COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE. At 08:37 in the morning M-Net shows viewers a man being tortured with a power drill drilling into his knee.

It's completely disgusting, utterly wrong and shocking that M-Net (DStv 101) will at 08:37 in the morning show a man being physically tortured in Shonda Rhimes' The Fixer with a power drill being used to drill straight into a gagged and bound man's knee.

Later in the episode a character goes to get an abortion. Lovely television for early in the morning.

Is anybody at M-Net in Randburg actually watching what the pay-TV broadcaster is broadcasting?

Either nobody is, or somebody is and just don't care.

In America this episode of Scandal, in South Africa called The Fixer, came with an on-screen "viewer discretion advised" message that the episode contains "adult content" where it is shown at 21:00 (in South Africa it's shown at 19:30).

That should have told M-Net that the episode of the series, shown here in later prime time, should not have early morning repeats - especially since its age restriction is 16 V.

Of course M-Net's standards and practices people are clearly oblivious to the gratuitous torture scenes and just went ahead and repeated the episode.

It's adult content which M-Net apparently has no problem showing not just during the day, but early during the day, and it's wrong and disgusting and likely a contravention of the Broadcasting Code of Conduct.

M-Net says in response to broadcasting this morning's repeat of The Fixer that "M-Net abides by the BCCSA Code of Conduct for subscription broadcasters and every single episode of all programmes are viewed and rated by our Programme Acceptance department before going onto our channels".

"According to these BCCSA rules and guidelines, programmes with a rating of 16V, as is the case with this specific episode of The Fixer, can be broadcast before the watershed, which is 20:00 for pay-TV and 21:00 for free-to-air broadcasters," says M-Net.

"We also have a parental control option available on our decoders that protects children from age-restricted content when set by parents. The episode's rating was communicated to viewers before the show started," says M-Net.

Is some viewer or M-Net subscriber going to lodge a complaint at the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA)? I don't know.

What I do know is that my week started off on a disgusting note due to M-Net, pandering to a new low with showing salacious stuff at a time it shouldn't and not even caring.

I find it revolting and disgusting that M-Net has so little respect not just for its viewers but cares so very little about its own product that nobody at M-Net who watched this episode thought that it shouldn't be repeated and shouldn't be shown again at any time period other than late primetime or later.

What's more sickening than the callous behaviour of utterly irresponsible broadcasters like M-Net showing gratuitous torture television like this in the early morning, is that South African viewers who perhaps don't know better, are just forced to take it - watching what they think is appropriate to be shown, when in fact it's not.

Perhaps it's not torture to an oblivious M-Net, but it's definitely torturous and shocking viewing for me. You don't want to put your television on early on a Monday morning and then be greeted with someone drilling a hole with a power tool into a gagged man's knee cap.

It's not the M-Net I want, it's not the M-Net I like, and it's definitely not the M-Net that M-Net should be.

BREAKING. Renewed: Greys, The Fixer, Castle, Once Upon a Time, and Agents of SHIELD for further seasons.

Several TV shows seen in South Africa just got renewed in America for further seasons.

Grey's Anatomy (M-Net), Scandal (shown as The Fixer on M-Net and SABC3, and Scandal on Star One and Star Series E1), Castle (M-Net Series Showcase), Once Upon a Time (M-Net Series Showcase), Marvel's Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D and The Middle were all picked up for further seasons.

BREAKING. SABC3 which boldly decided to keep Scandal as Scandal, ordered to change it to The Fixer after just 2 episodes.

You're reading it here first. 

Someone call Olivia Pope quick for this fast-growing public relations fiasco: SABC3 has been ordered to change the title of the American drama Scandal - which SABC3 decided to keep Scandal - to The Fixer, after broadcasting the first two episodes of the show as Scandal.

The Shonda Rhimes drama on SABC3 which started on M-Net a year and a half ago, has just been forced to change its title in South Africa to The Fixer as well.

SABC3's forced name-change comes just a week after SABC3 proclaimed that the TV channel will be staying with the original title of Scandal. e.tv has a weekday soap entitled Scandal!.

Although SABC3 promoted, advertised, and placed the show as The Fixer on the SABC3 schedule and in print adverts, it suddenly started showing the drama as Scandal.

Last week SABC3 in a press statement, and SABC3's channel head Aisha Mohamed, specifically asked about the show's title, told TV with Thinus that it makes more sense to keep the original title, that Scandal is what the show is known as internationally, and that the decision was taken to keep Scandal as Scandal for South Africa.

Now Scandal is suddenly back to The Fixer for SABC3 too, after M-Net had to change Scandal to The Fixer in October 2012.

It's not yet clear whether e.tv ordered SABC3 to change Scandal to The Fixer or whether Disney Media Distribution, responsible for selling Scandal worldwide, mandated the change.

BREAKING. SABC3 decides to remain with original American show title, Scandal, for Shonda Rhimes' Kerry Washington drama.

SABC3 which has acquired the first season of the American TV drama Scandal with Kerry Washington has decided to stick with the original American title of the show and will not be changing it to The Fixer as pay-TV broadcaster M-Net has to try and distinguish the show from the already-existing weekday soap Scandal! on e.tv.

SABC3 channel head Aisha Mohamed told TV with Thinus on Friday morning that the channel will be sticking with the drama's original title and not be changing it to The Fixer like M-Net has done.

"It makes more sense to keep the original name of the show, which is what people around the world knows it as," says Aisha Mohamed. "Internationally people are watching Scandal with [Kerry Washington] and the decision was taken to keep it like that for South Africa," she says. 

In October 2012 M-Net changed Scandal to The Fixer for South Africa and Africa. 

That happened after M-Net acquired the rights to the popular Shonda Rhimes drama earlier in 2012, and had an original starting date for Scandal of July 2012. 

M-Net however counter-programmed Scandal for the 19:30 timeslot - the exact same time as e.tv's weekday soap Scandal!. 

M-Net suddenly removed Scandal from the line-up before the show started, changed it to The Fixer, gave it another timeslot and moved the show to a new starting date three months later.